Turn-buckle and blank



(No Modl.)

' 05H. WILLIAMS.

. TURN B-UGK/LE AND BLANK-'7 Patented Nov; 29, 1887.

N PETERs mmmm m m. Washington, nc

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES H. \VIIiLIAMS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

TURN-BUCKLE AND B LAN K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.373,8'7l, dated November 29, 1887.

I Application filed March 2, 1887. Serial No. 229,487. (X model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. WILLIAMs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga, State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Turn-Buckles, &c., of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to turn-buckles, sleevenuts, and similar articles; and among the objects of the invention are to produce such articles, having the required form, without any actual longitudinal upsetting or pressing of the material of which they are formed,

(whereby the natural fiber of the metal is, by

' upsetting or otherwise, weakened, so far as its capacity to withstand longitudinal tensile strain is concerned,) and to produce said ar ticles by a method which requires the simplest possible tools, dies, or devices, so that practically unskilled labor can be utilized in contradistinction to the requirement of expensive short-lived machinery and dies and of skilled mechanics in the production of and attendance upon the same, and to dispose or locate the necessary welded joints in such parts of the articles as shall in the least possible manner tend to weaken the same, and, on the contrary, to so locate and extend said joint or joints as to insure the perfection of the joint itself.

As heretofore constructed in this class of ar ticles when made of separate blanks united either to each other or to filling-pieces or nuts at the ends or heads, the joints connecting said parts have been located solely at and limited in length to that of the heads of the articles. In such a construction the entire strength of the completed article is dependent upon the perfection and strength of the said short welded joints, and said strength has been further diminished by the several processes of upsetting and hammering necessarily 1 employed to give a finished and desired form to the completed article, which processes also disturb and in a measure destroy the fiber, as above specified.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a turn-buckle embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective of-a portion of the two blanks employed in making my turn-buckle. Fig. 3 is a like view of a like portion of similar blanks, except as to their exterior form. Figs. 4 and 5 are end views of dies which may be employed inthe manufacture of my turn-buckle. Fig. 6 is a partial side elevation of a die or spreader. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of rolls, and Fig. 8 an edge view of the spreader shown in Fig. 6, all of which may be employed in the manufacture of my turn-buckle.

As above indicated, my invention relates to turn-buckles, sleeve-nuts, and other similar articles; and I desire at this point to mention that, although hereinafter more particularly described in connection with turn-buckles, the

same features of construction and the same.

seemsto lie wholly in the fact that the arms of a turn-buckle are more widely separated from each other than the sides or arms of a sleevenut, and that sleeve-nuts, as heretofore constructed, have not been provided with separated arms, but with closed or unbroken continuous sides, be their form in crosssection, circular,or polygonal. In fact, I am not aware of any sleeve-nuts heretofore constructed with an opening or openings which would permit of the inspection of theends of the rods connected thereby, either as to their relative position or the condition of the threads thereon.

In actual use sleeve-nuts as heretofore constructedthat is, without an inspection-opening-are objectionable, in that when it becomes necessary to tighten the truss or other rods connected thereby there is no means of determining whether or not the ends of the rods are actually in contact or abutting against each other, so that in the attempt to tighten said rods the threads may be stripped from the same or from the nut, or either or both otherwise destroyed. An inspection opening or openings will admit of a proper examination before injurious force is applied to the sleeve-nut; but, as before stated, I shall hereinafter employ the word turn-buckle generically, so as to include sleeve nuts and other articles.

Among the requisite characteristics of a p ractical successful turn-buckle are that it must be strong enough to withstand a greater longitudinal strain than the rods which it connects and of sufficient rigidity to resist the torsional strain necessarily exerted thercon,either by a wrench applied thereto or by a bar inserted between the arms thereof for the purpose of tightening or loosening the rods connected thereby, and the opposite ends should be tapped in a true line with each other. All of the above requisites of a perfect turn-buckle depend, in addition to the quality of the material of which they are made, upon sutlicientlyextended joints or welds located in places not tending to weaken the buckle and the absence in the method of manufacture of any injury or displacement of the fiber of the material out of a substantial line with the direction of the strain to be put upon the article when in use. Keeping in View the requisites ot' a perfect product, as above specified, I have complied therewith, and at the same time conformed to other objects of my invention above specified in regard to the character of the labor and devices employed in the manufacture.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 8, A and B represent single blanks which I employin making my. turn-buckle. In Fig. 2 the blanks are of a form to produce a turn-buckle which, when completed, shall be polygonal at the ends, (in this instance, hexagon-ah) whereby a wrenchhold is provided at each end of the buckle, and by reason of the polygonal outlinein crossseetion of the portion of the buckle between its ends, commonly known as the arms, they, too, are adapted for the connection of a wrench, if desired. (See Fig. 1.) In Fig. 3 the exterior form of the blanks A and B is such as to produce a turn-buckle or sleevenut circular in cross-section. \Vith these differences the blanks are otherwise similar and subjected to the same operation in the manufacture of turn-buckles therefrom, and the devices or dies ineach case are to bein accordance with the outline of the turn-buckle or sleevenut to be produced. The blank .A is formed in any suitable manner, but preferably by the simple-process of rolling, its form being defined by straight lines. The interior conformation of the blank consists of a substantially semicircular groove, A B, running lengthwise through the blank, and an opening, A B, extending from one end to the other of that portion of the blank which goes to make up the arms of the buckle, leaving the remaining end portions of the material of the blank in its virgin condition, with the fiber longitudinally disposed, unsevered, and unbroken. The remaining blank B of the pair is similar in every respect to the blank A,

with the exception that it is narrower than the blank A, in order that the edges of the blank A shall project over and be lapped upon the edges of the blank B in the process of manufacturing, as hereinafter described.

At this time I deem it important to state that each blank is, at the edges where it is joined to the other and throughout its entire length, preferably wider than the buckle when completed. The importance of this relative dimension of the blank, as regards the coinpleted article, will hereinafter appear.

Simply for the purpose of retaining the blanks in proper position,on'e upon the other, while being heated in the furnace, I may form upon the blank A one or more shoulders or grooves, A, and upon the blank B one or more ribs, B adapted to enter or rest in the groove A This manner ot'forming the abutting surfaces of the blanks also tends to render the welded joint,which occurs along these surfaces and throughout the length of the blanks, more secure; but I do not limit my invention to a grooved and ribbed welded joint, as the edges of the blanks which abut against each other along the welded lines may be perfectly plain.

The openings A B are preferably formed after the blanks are rolled, and by means-of a simple punch or shear die. After the blanks are formed, as described, they are brought to a desired welding heat and a mandrel, C, Fig. 7, having one end reduced, as at C, for easy introduction, is inserted between the two blanks, the circular opening thereof being purposely larger than the mandrel, which is substantially the size of the bore of the finished buckle before the threads in the heads thereof are formed. After the mandrel is inserted, the blanks and the mandrel may be passed longitudinally through any suitable rolls-such as the rolls D D, Fig. 7which are annularly grooved to substantially conform to the exterior outline in crosssection of the two blanks, except that they are formed to turn over and roll down the edges A of the blank A upon the blank B, so as to produce a perfect lap-weld of the blanks to each other.

Instead of employing rolls to weld the blanks together, I may use simplcprcssure-dies E E, conforming substantially to the exterior outline ofthe blanks, except being formed to compress the blanks together and close down the lapping edges A of the blank A onto the blank B, and in this instance an additional set of dies, F F, may be employed to act upon the bucklein directions at right angles to the operation of dies E E. The dies F F conform more strictly to the contour of the completed buckle, and the buckle may bepresented to the action of these dies to solidify the material or smooth or finish its exterior surfaces as many times as desired, and accompanied with more or less frequentturning or changing of position, to present different surfaces to the vertical action of the dies. At this stage of the IIO progress of the manufacture of the buckle the opening A or B in the blank may be contracted or more or less restricted in width, or elongated. This action is, however, materially and positively limited by the presence within the blanks of the mandrel 0. Furthermore, the elongation of the opening or of the blanks themselves can be anticipated and provided for in the original cutting of the blanks to a desired length and in the dimensions as to length of the opening formed therein.

The next step in the process is an important one, in that by it the separation of the arms is accomplished without any upsetting or hammering,whereby the natural fiberof the material is disarranged, disturbed, or destroyed. This step is also important, when taken in connection with the particular location and extent of the welded joints of the blanks, in that said joints are not thereby weakened at and along the arms, and are substantially unaffected at the opposite heads of the buckle. The step consists in spreading the arms apart from each other by means of a simple interior former, G, Figs. 6 and 8, the end of which may be slightly tapered, as at G, to insure easy insertion,and the upper ends thereof may be provided with any suitable handles, as G, or so formed as to facilitate the connection of the former to any simple me chanical devices for inserting and withdrawing the same.

The essential difference between a sleeve-nut and a turn-buckle, as hereinbefore indicated, requires simply a spreading of the arms of the article a less distance, and sufficient only for the clearance of the thread on the rods connected by the same, whereas in a turn-buckle the arms are commonly spread a greater distance and so as to admit of abar for turning the same, or of a key to be passed through an eye in the end of a rod, which key in my buckle will bear against an unsevered and jointless portion of the head,whereby no material strain is put directly upon or so as to act to sever the welded joint. This important advantage re sults from locating the joint in and along the arm. It is readily apparent that the action of the spreader is simply to spread the arms from each other, maintaining them parallel and curving each outwardly from the head at each end, and accomplishing this without undue strain upon the fiber of the material, this operation and result being essentially different from producing the outward curvature of the arms by force applied endwise.

It will be observed that during the process of manufacturing my buckle, as described, I secure the material advantage of completing both heads at one and the same heat and operation, thus materially reducing the expense of manufacture as compared With those articles in which each head is separately formed.

I have herein shown and described the blanks as having a width greater than that of the complete article, and these are rolled or otherwise lessened in width during the manufacture; but it is apparent that the width of the blanks may more nearly approach or agree with the width of the completed buckle, although the dimensions specified are preferable to provide a broad lap-Weld.

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claim is 1. A blank for turn-buckles or'similar articles, having a cross-section throughout its entire length and along the weldlines and armforming portions thereof of greater width than the finished turn-buckle made therefrom, substantially as specified.

2. A blank for turnbuckles and similar articles, having a cross-section throughout its entire length and along the weld-lines thereof of greater width than the width of the finished turn-buckle made therefrom,and having a longitudinal rib or groove along its weld-line, whereby two of such blanks are prevented from changing their relative positions while being heated for welding or while being welded, substantially as specified.

3. A blank for turn-buckles or similar articles, having a cross-section throughout its entire length and along the Weld-lines thereof of greater width than the width of the finished article made therefrom, and having a slot or opening intermediate the said weld-lines, substantially as specified. 4.. A compound blank for turn-buckles and similar articles, polygonal in cross-section and comprising two single blanks, each constructed to form one-half of the completed articles, the one ofgreater width than the other,and the two joined by lap-welds extending from end to end of the same, substantially as specified.

5. A turn-buckle or similar article having an inspection-opening and a welded joint in each arm, the weld extending from end to end thereof, substantially as specified.

6. A turn-buckle or similar article, having a welded joint in each arm, and having an opening intermediate said joints, substantially as specified.

7. A turn-buckle or similar article having an opening in a non-welded portion of an arm of the same, said opening being at its edges free from welded joints, substantially as specifled.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

E. B. STOCKING, W. DUVALL. 

